


From the Ashes

by RedSova



Series: Misplaced Souls [3]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Dying Will Flames, F/M, Hiding in Plain Sight, M/M, Pre-Canon, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-04-29 03:16:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14463810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedSova/pseuds/RedSova
Summary: At the age of four, there was a lot of things Jaeger was willing to accept about his life:He was a reincarnation of a twenty-two year old woman, he was smarter than his parents, he was hundreds of years in the past while possibly in the wrong world and he could set himself on fire without actually burning; but If there was anything he had difficulties accepting:It was the idea of Soulmates."The day I call you 'Lord' is the day I become an undead prison guard, who chases after an alien for some half minded revenge that won't actually be revenge during his free time, for all eternity."   -SI!Jaeger





	From the Ashes

_To be honest, I didn't want to die- No one really does- even if my actions might have suggested otherwise._

_I wanted to live, to laugh and cry, to smile and scowl. I wanted to hold onto what little family I had left and never let it go; after all, besides myself, She was the last one left._

_I didn't want to die, but what other choice was there?_

_Maybe I could have just stood there- if later asked I probably could have claimed I had frozen in horror filled shock- and watched as certain Death in the form of a four-wheel contraption of metal and glass crushed my five-year-old niece. My precious little niece with a bright smile and warm eyes that were a constant painful reminder of all that I had lost._

_Yet I couldn't, I wouldn't._

_Even if she was the one whole stole it all away- her birth had been the end of it all. Had my sister not gone into labor with her that day my parents and younger brother would never have been outside of the safety of our home. The Accident would never have had a chance to happen. Had my sister not gone into labor she would never have bled to death due to 'complications'- and while I'll concede; A part of me wanted to, I just couldn't bring myself to blame the infant that had been thrust upon me._

_She didn't ask for the hand dealt anymore than I did and she was all I had left. I couldn't lose that._

_So I acted before I even had a chance to think as my feet slammed against the gravel, rushing towards the small toddler without so much as a clue that Death rushing towards her._

_I died before the ambulance ever reached the hospital due to massive internal bleeding -if I remember correctly- with the sound of a child's cries ringing in my ears._

_I didn't want to die, but Life doesn't always agree with what you want so here I am, celebrating my twenty-second birthday in the midst of an endless void with neither Heaven or Hell insight. To be honest, I'm disappointed._

_Where the Hell was.... Well, Hell?_

_Shouldn't there be some fire and brimstone somewhere around here or did I somehow miss my turn? After all, it's not like this place came with directions._

　

  
_The Void, as I had grown to call it, was boring._

_There was nothing here besides me- literally nothing but an abyss of darkness that never ended no matter how far I walked or ran in any direction- and my thoughts- though I could have done without the later as my self-conscious turned out to be a vindicated bastard who constantly pointed out the multiple of actions I could have taken in those last few minutes and required better results- to keep me company as I wait._

_Though, to be honest, I wasn't quite sure what I was waiting for. Lucifer, Maybe?_

_God to pop up and say there was a mistake which led to him somehow getting lost on the way over but he was there to finally deliver my final judgment?_

_Did it matter? I couldn't leave until one of them showed up._

_Hell, I would even take the Tooth Fairy by now for if I stayed here- trapped within the endless void of solitude- much longer I was going to go Mad.... Well, even Madder than I already am seeing how I'm currently talking to myself._

　

_White._

_I must have gone mad, I couldn't help but think as I stared down at the prone body lying on the 'ground' before me. Honestly, when I had gone for a walk- once more attempting to locate an exit or loophole that would get me the Hell out of here- I could honestly confess I had never- in my wildest dreams- expected to run across another person....._

_Even if they were a bit of a strange one._

_I mean, come on, how many people do you know dressed up as some sort of gentleman mummy with chains that pooled around them? Yeah, I don't know many either. Matter of fact if I included this guy, I could count them all on one hand and have four fingers left over._

_Still, they were the first being I had seen besides myself in what felt like an entirety so it was rather easy to overlook what they wore in exchange for the fact they were actually- or so I hoped otherwise my mind was a bigger bastard then I originally believed- there. So I did the only thing I could, something I had become rather brilliant at:_

_I waited._

_And waited...._

_And waited...._

_I'm not sure how long I sat next to the strangely dressed person as I waited for them to wake- A century? A millennium? An eon?- as time had no meaning here, but no matter how long I waited; They never woke up._

_Doubt began to creep into my mind. After all, the whole time I sat there they had never moved- matter of fact, I couldn't even tell if they were breathing considering the clothes they were wearing- so I tried to wake them myself._

_I suppose you know what happened next, right?_

_I shook his shoulder, they woke up, we talked and become the best of friends with matching friendship bracelets for all of time and then maliciously found a way to escape...._  
_...._  
_...._  
_No, that wasn't even close to what happened and anyone who even considered such a thing should probably go get their heads checked._

_I'm not really sure how to describe what had happened next even if anyone asked. The moment I touched the person the Void suddenly started falling to pieces around us and the guy was still sleeping like the dead. Distantly, I could recall tightening my grip on the other as the Void disappeared from beneath us: Dropping the two of us into a blinding light._

  
_When the light finally faded away and I could see- through everything was blurred to the point I couldn't make out my own hand in front of my face- I heard three words that I, a grown woman of twenty-two, would forever consider Eternal Damnation._

**"It's a Boy!"**

　

　

**Chapter 1**

It's a boy....

_A boy._

_The words echoed constantly within her- his, did it really matter? It's not like it changed her....his situation- mind since the moment they had left the midwives lips. He had heard of reincarnation before- Hell, she had ever written her thesis once upon the phenomenon- but that didn't mean he wanted firsthand experience on the matter._

_Though it mattered little what he wanted as whoever was up there- Now She knows why they God and Lucifer never showed, they had probably been too busy getting drunk together and plotting new ways to torment her- seemed determined to ignore her....his wishes while promptly screwing with him. Which is why he spent the last four months as a useless, drooling potato; better known to mankind as a 'newborn'._

_Personally, he prefers the term: Potato for that was about as useful as he was- on second thought even a potato had more uses then he did seeing as you could eat it if hungry- as all he could do was lay there- blind to anything more than twelve inches from his face- eat, sleep and shit while having to depend upon his parents- of more accurately his Newfound Mother- for everything._

Its official, his Mother- _the woman who unintentionally dragged him back to this world-_ is a Goddess and he will forever worship her as one, no matter how many people tease her... him about being a _'Mommy's Boy'._

For a moment she- _he_ -couldn't help but wonder if maybe this way how her niece felt about her before the thoughts are stolen away by a purple blur he had come to register as His Mother's favored dress whirls into the bedroom speaking something in a language he doesn't understand. It doesn't matter though as gentle hands pluck him from the bassinet- _like a ripe fruit in the midst of harvest season_ \- only to hold him close to his Mother's smiling face as she continued to speak.

Since he cannot understand here, he chooses instead to focus on her.

Despite her outdated clothing- _after all, no one has worn clothes like that in almost four hundred years unless attending a Resonance/ Medieval theme fair- She's beautiful- then again, maybe he's just bias_ \- with her smooth olive skin, raven black hair that tumbles into small waves all the way down to her knees and warm hazel eyes.

He wonders if he looks like his Mother or his Father......

Hopefully his Mother and No, he was not being petty for the man's lack of involvement within these last four months... _Honest._

His Mother must have realized he wasn't listening as she stops speaking and shakes her head softly with an amused chuckle.

 

_His six months old when he realized that if there’s such a thing as an ‘Idiot to the Obvious’ reward he’s probably won it and it’s all thanks to that damn newspaper his mother was attempting to read to him- it probably would have gone smoother if she can read more than a few words and had someone to correct her mispronunciation- or more specifically The Date on it:_

_August 9, 1698_

_And thus, After six long months; he speaks his first word, "Fuck!"_

_"Jaeger!" There’s something dangerous in his Mother’s voice that causes him to freeze and he his dying day, Jaeger would swear he saw an unholy raging inferno burning within her eyes, "Where did you hear such foul language?!"_

_The newly discovered Jaeger- It was about time. She... he had spent the last six months without knowing his name and was beginning to question whether or not his parents had even bothered to name him- points a chubby finger towards his frozen Father without a moment's hesitation._

_If asked Jaeger wouldn’t know scared him more: the literally Hellfire that seemed to blaze in his Mother’s eyes or that far too innocent smile which never left her face even as his Fathers screams echoed throughout their home._

 

In Jaeger’s opinion his father- _Melesio according to his Mother who’s on name turned out to be Ethelinda_ \- isn’t really that much to talk about; He was the quiet sort of man with dark brown hair, caramelized skin and sharp golden eyes that would automatically scan a room before he entered and never stayed very long.

He was the sort of man that was there one moment and gone the next, leaving his mother alone in her attempt at raising what they believed to be a normal infant.

Okay, so maybe Jaeger held a _slight_ resentment towards the man who only visited him and his mother once or twice a month, but She... he would like to think that could be excused considering circumstances. He just can't understand why His Father won't stay though he suspects it has something to do with him- _It wasn't a fact that was hard to deduce as the man never really seemed to want to be near him and every time His wonderful Goddess of a Mother forced him to hold Jaeger his so-called Father would look at him with these sad piteous eyes-_ but for the life of him, Jaeger couldn't figure out why.

Maybe the man didn't want a child?

_Maybe he just wasn't ready for the responsibility?_

Either way, it matters little to Jaeger.

He just wishes the man would stop coming back and raising his Mother's hopes only to leave her once more in silent tears.

　

_Jaeger's a year old the first time he ever sees his parents argue about something. His Mother- bless the lovely Goddess' Soul- believes its time for him to meet other people or rather 'children his age' while his Father...._

__  
_That man seems rather skittish about the idea and attempts to come up with a multitude of excuse but his mother is a stubborn woman and refuses to hear them- countering them each with a reason why Jaeger should meet others- eventually though his Father shouts something about him being 'Loveless' which results in with the man on the ground nursing a bruised jaw as his Goddess of a Mother screams at him.__ _

__Welp....Now he's done it._ _

Though a part of Jaeger couldn't help wondering; What did his 'Father' mean by 'Loveless'?

_Sure, Jaeger knew he didn't act like a model child- he was bored too easy and it showed- but he wasn't heartless._

 

The first person he meets outside of his parents was a boy by the name of Alejandro and to be bluntly honest, upon first glance, Jaeger thought someone should call whatever form of Child Services currently existed immediately.

  
_What?_

  
What else was he supposed to think seeing as the actually one-year-old- _for he doubted the other was another unfortunate soul brought back to life. Especially seeing how the infants favorite hobby seemed to be seeing how much drool he could drown her... him in-_ had light blue hair and what appeared to be a tattoo on the left side of his neck?

  
At the time Jaeger had truly thought the infants father- _the puppeteer master to the gypsy caravan his mother was apart of_ \- was some sort of current day gangster or apart of some twisted cult and therefore had screamed body murder- _while clutching the other infant as tightly as his small sausage finger would permit him to-_ the moment the uncomfortable seeming man- _Maybe the man was paranoid and suspected Jaeger was onto him?-_ attempted to take little Alejandro home.

  
It was his first tantrum Jaeger ever permitted himself to have since he had woken up in this body, therefore Jaeger ensured every moment of it counted as he screamed, clutched and tried to gum the man's fingers every time they came within reaching distance and when the man finally did manage to free Alejandro from his hold:

Jaeger had shrieked his little lungs off while bawling like an actual toddler. So maybe...

_Just Maybe,_ it was practically his fault that his parents- _and everyone else within their caravan_ \- seemed to believe Alejandro was his _'Best Friend'_ and had been so since their first meeting. Honesty, Jaeger found the rumors to be rather annoying- _he was not 'best friends' with this 'Alejandro'; he was just trying to do the proper thing and save the obviously mistreated infant in the only way he could-_ Still, for some reason, the actions and rumors seemed to relieve his mother so maybe Jaeger could just overlook them...

_Just this once._

* * *

  
She knew she should be embarrassed, she knew should she grant a lashing he would never forget for the scene he had made, but she couldn't. Ethelinda found herself too relieved to even consider doing so due to the same thing she knew should have shamed her into embarrassment:

_Her Jaeger had thrown a hell of a tantrum in front of both herself, her Melesio and Atticus over the removal of Atticus' son; Alejandro._ She probably looked mad when she finally managed to lure her shrieking bundle of joy into sleep onto to bust into a bout of gleeful maniac like laughter.

She didn't care though, Jaeger; Her precious little Hunter had done something no one- _not even herself_ \- had thought him capable of:

He had felt and he had felt so strongly about something he actually had his first tantrum- something not even she assumed he would be capable of. Not since the Midwife had informed her- _with an atmosphere of mourning with a gleam of pity and regret within the old woman's blue eyes-_ that her child was _'Loveless'_.

Since the beginning of time, everyone was born with a marking rather similar to a tattoo somewhere on their bodies that was meant to help Guide one to their perfect half; their Soulmate, who would have the same 'tattoo' somewhere on their body. To be honest, Ethelinda didn't understand the whole concept of the markings only that your Soulmate would have the matching mark if you tried to 'fake' a Soulmark it would literally burn itself off your skin with SoulFire and that if your Soulmate died the mark lost all color.

Those born without those Soul Markings were called _'The Loveless'_ for they were nothing more than empty, hollow shells incapable of feeling anything.

She had wept for days when the new that her newborn, her precious little hunter, was one of the _'Loveless_ ' before trying her best to ignore it and drowning the child in her love for him.

_Fine,_ she had told herself after her own Soulmate could not abide to look at their child, _If her son could not feel- could not love- she would love him enough for everyone in the world that would automatically shun and isolate him for something he could not help._

Despite her resolve, it wasn't easy though.

Those golden eyes followed her everywhere with an intensity no child should have- _where the 'Loveless' born with such a sense of awareness-_ he never cried, never made more noise than was absolutely necessary and actually managed to speak his first word at the tender age of Four Months when most children could not form a solid word until they were older than eight months.

Some days though...

She found herself unable to bear looking at her own child and would leave him alone in her room as she walked around the caravan- _doing her utmost best to ignore the piteous stares and depraved whispers that followed her everywhere-_ only to cry herself to sleep those nights. She had blamed herself for her child's placement and was slowly but surely becoming resigned towards the small infant who she sometimes thought would be better off dead and then....

When she had all but lost hope, her little Jaeger had thrown a temper over another child unlike anything she had ever seen from him before; screaming, crying, clutching, _God, Her little one wanted the other child near him to the point he attempted to gum Atticus' hands to death!_

It didn't take long for the rumors to spread and soon the whispers had changed as it was proven her Little Hunter wasn't a hollow empty shell but he could actually feel- _Though he seemed to have a slight difficulty in doing so-_ and express himself! Many- _including herself and Melesio-_ pondered how this was possible, what miracle method had been used and could it be used on the other _'Loveless'_ , but none of them could agree on an answer.

  
Maybe thought it an act of God to a woman who loved her child more than anything. _They did not know she spent many nights crying due to the fact she found herself wondering whether or not she would be forgiven if she smothered the emotionless infant with a pillow._  
Some thought it was Alejandro himself. _That there was something 'blessed' about the child and it had affected the 'Loveless' boy just by being within his presence_. Atticus had scoffed at the very thought, but he no longer seemed too skittish about permitting Little Alejandro to visit her Jaeger.

Honestly, Ethelinda didn't care what wild theory they came up with; she was just too relieved that someone- _be it God, the Devil or an infant_ \- had managed to save her son from being that hollow shell of an infant.

　

_Despite what many people seemed to assume; being 'Loveless' -whatever the Hell that was supposed to mean- wasn't so bad in Jaeger's opinion._

_If anything, it seemed more in his favor than against him as everyone tended to avoid him like a plague unless they were His Mother, his Father- the few times the man was around- or Alejandro- who clung to his arm like a leech and never seemed to notice the upon Law of the Caravan- and when others did come near him; they always ensured Alejandro was with him so they could place the toddler between them as though the blue-haired boy was a shield._

_To be honest, the golden-eyed toddler didn't mind, if anything it served to further aid with keeping anyone from noticing his 'unnatural mental growth' while ensuring none besides his Mother would care what he did or where he went. So maybe that was why the Blue Haired toddler was the only one to notice the rather strange tattoo that had found its way onto the golden-eyed toddler back._

 

It started out just as every other day did for the four-year-old; in other words, he was rather rudely woken from his rest by an over-excited small blue haired bullet pouncing itself onto his chest.

At first, the golden-eyed toddler attempted to ignore the other only to find himself and his covers being dragged across the wooden floors and towards the kitchen.

"-on't wake up!"

He bluntly pretends not to hear Alejandro's whining or his Mother's bell-like laughter- determined to sleep in for a change even if it killed him- but not even Jaeger could ignore the thundering of his stomach. So it was with great disinclination, the golden-eyed toddler forced himself to sit upright as his Mother place a wooden, hand-carved plate-another thing Jaeger found getting used to as it turned out proper silverware was solely for the High Class- before him.

Breakfast is a peaceful affair, its mostly quite; the only real noise is the small conversation his Mother starts up to inform him she intends to go back to work today and that she expects him to stay out of trouble- _He wonders why everyone keeps telling him to stay out of trouble when its Alejandro that is the Trouble Magnet.. And Yes, it does deserve all Capitals_. Afterward, Jaeger finds himself back towards his room when Alejandro swiftly ransacks his closet for an outfit the other is rather quick to shove into his hands while shooing him away from his own bed.

As a Gypsy' son there's not really to do outside of learning a craft- _which most couldn't even start doing so until they were eight and only improve throughout their lives_ \- which would later become your Life Occupation as Gypsies were forbidden to attend schools or anything that involved society as a whole- _Hell, the only reason they were allowed inside a Church was due to the Pastors and their constant attempts to 'Save the Wayward Souls' from Damnation set upon them by their Ancestors-_ so, for now, it was more playing a game called _'Stay out from underneath the adults feet'._

Therefore none really cared enough to stop two toddlers from playing within the forest on the edge of camp; just as long as they stay out of the way and from underneath people's feet.

 

"Wait, I can-"

"Don't-"

**SPLASH!**

 

It was going to be one of those days, Jaeger decided as the four-year-old's head managed to break the surface of the water _\- thankfully he had convinced Alejandro they should play at the shallow end instead of further upstream; through that was only due to him confessing that he didn't even know how to swim... Alright maybe playing near a stream and not knowing how to swim wasn't his best idea but the Caravan was boring and rather small to the point it felt as though he was suffocating- sputtering followed only seconds later by his blue-haired companion._

??

"Oops?" Honestly, a part of Jaeger wants to be angry but seeing that sheepish smile and knowing the other had the best intention at heart eases the anger until laughter bubbles from the golden-eyed toddler's lips.

"Jaegew," He ignores the worry within the self-proclaimed Best Friends voice as he drags himself to the shoreline- _literally as his laughter keeps causing him to trip over his own two feet like the clumsy toddler he appeared to be._

"Jaegew, **Please don't be bwoken!"**

_He really should reassure Ale everything was okay- Jaeger was fully aware of that- but..._

Golden eyes darted to the blue-haired toddler- _who was following him rather closely in his worry_ \- before darting towards the other's head or more specifically the rather large fish attached to the top of his head like a floundering crown Alejandro didn't even seem to notice he acquired.

_I will not laugh, I will not laugh. There was absolutely nothing funny- at all- about watching a fish trying to eat your obvious Friend's brain. Yep, nothing at all._

"Ale," The golden eye toddler speaks softly while biting his lip, "there's a fish twying to eat youw bwains."

Though there was something rather appealing about watching your self-proclaimed best- _and only_ \- friend flail about like an idiot while running in circles all-the-while screaming for your help at the top of his lungs

"Jaegew, Cease youw laughtew and **HELP MEEEE!"**

He wants to- Honest- but Jaeger just can't find the strength to do so. If he's honest, Jaeger doesn't remember the last time he laughed- it had been some time in his last life years before She had even died- and now that he started he didn't know how to stop. At least not until-

**Slap!**

For a moment all Jaeger could do was blink at the tomato faced blue-haired toddler who had somehow pried the fish off his own head and was now clutching the thing just above its tail as though it was a club.

"Did you just slap me with a fish?" A hint of disbelief clings to the golden-eyed toddler's tone as a smug smile twisted onto Ale's lip.

"You desewved it."

For a moment, silence befell the two before, "heh..."

"Jaegew?

"Hehehehe...…"

"Jaegew, I'm Sowwy,"Panic overcame Alejandro's expression as the blue-haired toddler dropped his _'weapon'_ into the shallow water only to rush forward so he could attempt to literally hold the golden-eyed toddler together. " **Stop Bweaking!"**

He tried- _honestly_ \- but for the life of him, Jaeger couldn't seem to hold in the maniac like laughter at the thought of having been slapped with a fish- _of all things_ \- like one of those old- _new, non-existent?-_ black and white comedies.

 

* * *

 

By the time he manages to help- _CoughDragCough-_ a shivering Alejandro into his home, Jaeger would love nothing more than to just hope into a to hot bath to relax his aching muscles and soothe away the chill that had somehow sunk into his very bones.

Unfortunately such plans were impossible as plumbing currently did not exist- _and would not do so for hundreds of years_ \- making such a dream impossible as the only other way it could be achieved was if the golden-eyed toddler went to fetch water from the well- _something Jaeger doubted he could accomplish seeing as the nearest well was at least a mile downstream-_ and somehow managed to carry it back home.......

_....Heh, right..._ He might have an old soul but he's wasn't superman; he had barely managed to drag Ale the quarter mile it took to reach his home and already his arms around felt as though they were going to fall off. There was no realistic way he could manage to carry of a bucket of water a whole mile; So he settles for the next best thing:

Crossing his arm over his chest, Jaeger grants his blue-haired Friend a firm _'I'm a responsible adult so listen to me'_ look, "Wight, at this wate we'we going to fweeze to death. So I'll gwab us a quilt while you stwip."

"What?"

"Stwip," the golden-eyed toddler repeated as though it the most obvious thing in the world.

Looking back on it, he probably could have worded that better- _or maybe actually explained his reasoning_ \- Jager decided as a sheepish blue-haired toddler offered him a cold, wet rag for the newly forming bruise on his face.

"....."

"....."

".....Sowwy. "

"....."

".....Maybe you could twy explaining youw idea again?"

"....."

"I pwomise to listen this time instead of making assumptions."

"Ale?"

"Yes, Jaegew."

"Just get undew the covew befowe you get Hypothewmia."

"....Jaegew, What is Hipo... Hoypo... Hypothuwmia?"

Sighing softly, Jaeger turned his back towards the other while his fingers worked on freeing him from his own freezing clothes, " Hypothewmia, Ale. Its......" _A term that really shouldn't exist at this point of time_ , "Its a fancy way of saying someone fwoze to death."

He doesn't even have to look to know there's a skeptical gleam in Ale's silver eyes as its rings clear in the other's tone, "You just made that up, Did you n-"

Whatever Alejandro was going to complain about was suddenly cut short as the other's voice trailed off causing Jaeger to glance towards the other in confusion as he hung his shirt next Alejandro's above the fire, "Is something w-"

To be honest, Jaeger has never seen Alejandro move so fast in his life as the other seemed to all but materialize next to him- _and no, no matter what Ale could claim; He did **not** jump-_ with a considering look in his silver eyes while small hands attempted to manhandle him as though he was but a doll.

It's annoying really- _he's not used to physical contact outside of that from his family_ \- but Jaeger forces himself to tolerate it. _It just Alejandro_ , he tells himself. Ale was his best friend- _his only friend-_ and never requested much from him so he could tolerate a bit of poking and prodding, but only for a bit. His short patients must show on his face, as Alejandoro grants him another strange look before nodding to himself and starts dragging the golden-eyed toddler towards the His Mother's bedroom.

Its the first time he's seen his own reflection _\- its also the first time he's seen a mirror-_ since he had been reincarnated.

The first thing Jaeger notices is how he looks like his mother- _he has her smooth olive brown skin and raven feathered hair; through when the light hit his at a certain angle it appeared to be a dark, dark purple_ _instead_ -but with his Father's sharp golden eyes. _Thank God for small mercies_ , Jaeger decides as a part of him dreaded the idea of having to live with his Father's face staring back at him every time he glanced upon his reflection.

_What could he say?_ He had a few.... _'issues'_ with the man; especially once he discovered His Mother wasn't _'worthy'_ enough to be the man's wife- _despite being 'Soul Bound'-_ and had settled for being his Mistress instead. Unfortunately, the golden-eyed toddler isn't granted much time to sulk and stew on the matter as Ale shakes his head in mild annoyance, "Not that," before pulling him so he's standing sideways, "That."

A finger points at the mirror and on reflex Jaeger follow only to still as he catches sight of an image on his back, "Is that a tattoo?"

_How....When?_ The ink itself looked fresh- _too fresh to have been there for more than a day_ \- but how in the seven hells had it gotten there? Better yet, how did someone manage to ink his back without him noticing?

"No," Ale shook his head causing his blue hair to fall into his face, "That's a Soul Mawk."

Jaeger could only grant the other a blank look as his mind attempted to piece the other's words into something that made sense, "What?"

".....You do not know what a Soul Mawk is, do you?"

　

_Jaeger is three years old when he gets his first- and only- crash course in 'Soulmate' via another- an actual- toddler._

_According to Ale, to be 'Soulless' was to be without a Soulmate and apparently was a fate worse than death as they were considered nothing more than hollow shells who were mimicking humanity. While those with Soulmates could be identified due to the fact they were born with a Soul Mark- CoughTattooCough- which was identical to their Soulmates._

_Honestly, he doesn't understand half of it, but from what he does understand...._

_Well, the whole thing sounds like the plot of a bad romance novel._

 


End file.
